Neighborhood: Melrose, Albany

Updated 4:17 pm, Thursday, April 5, 2012

A four-bedroom, 2,360-square-foot raised ranch with three bathrooms and an attached two-car garage at 149 Fairlawn Ave. is on the market for $245,900. (Michael Lisi photo)

A four-bedroom, 2,360-square-foot raised ranch with three bathrooms and an attached two-car garage at 149 Fairlawn Ave. is on the market for $245,900. (Michael Lisi photo)

Neighborhood: Melrose, Albany

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Melrose is a cute family neighborhood with some history.

Back in the 1830s, New York's first passenger train chugged right through the neighborhood, which extends roughly from Brevator Street to Manning Boulevard. The Mohawk & Hudson Railroad's original right-of-way ran across Manning Boulevard and Winthrop Avenue, and parallel to Melrose Avenue before crossing Rosemont Park and the W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus.

Also, Melrose is home to the historic Jesse Buel house. The house, at 637 Western Ave., was first owned by Buel, a well-known Albany newspaperman and agriculturalist who unsuccessfully ran for governor.

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Mostly, Melrose is a quiet, pretty place with older houses in a wide assortment of styles. You'll find everything from cozy bungalows and brick ranches to lovely Tudors and ornate Dutch Colonials, some with stone facades. There are even a few Lustron houses, pre-fab steel houses built in the late 1940s and 1950s.

Tall oaks and maple trees tower over the streets here, giving Melrose that quintessential city neighborhood look. Most houses sit on roomy lots with tasteful landscaping.

Melrose has houses built for families; it's not unusual to find houses with four or even five bedrooms, although more than a few are between 1,400- and 1,800-square-feet in size. There are certainly bigger houses in the neighborhood; a house for sale at 149 Fairlawn Ave. offers four bedrooms and 2,360 square feet of living space.

And you can't beat the neighborhood's location if you're a state worker or work in downtown Albany. The Harriman campus is across the street from Brevator Avenue, Melrose's western boundary. Downtown is a short distance away via Washington Avenue or Manning Boulevard, the neighborhood's eastern boundary.

Schools

Children living in Melrose are enrolled in the City School District of Albany, attending Pine Hills Elementary School, the Stephen and Harriet Myers Middle School, and Albany High School. There are other schooling options in Albany; call the district's office at 475-6000 for information.

According to the 2009-10 Report Card on the Schools, 7,979 students were enrolled in the Albany district; 2,598 students were enrolled in Albany High School. That year, 63 percent of students who graduated earned a Regents diploma.

Commuting

Melrose is bounded roughly by Central Avenue to the north, state Route 20 (Western Avenue) to the south, Manning Boulevard to the east and Brevator Street to the west. Washington Avenue cuts right through Melrose; Washington Avenue headed northeast leads to an onramp to State Route 85, which connects with Interstate 90. Washington Avenue southwest heads past Washington Park and into downtown Albany.

Route 20 east ends in downtown Albany; headed west, the road leads to an onramp to Interstate 87, which leads to onramps to I-90 and the New York State Thruway. Route 20 continues west into Guilderland. Manning Boulevard southwest connects with New Scotland Avenue and rolls through Slingerlands.

Shopping and recreation

Melrose is minutes from Western and Central avenues. The Westgate Plaza strip mall, at 911 Central Ave., has a Price Chopper supermarket, Best Fitness gym, restaurants and other shops and services. A Hannaford supermarket is at 900 Central Ave., and Home Depot is at 979 Central Ave.

A number of restaurants, gas stations, banks, and car dealerships are set along Central Avenue. There are numerous restaurants, shops and services in downtown Albany.

Crossgates Mall, at 1 Crossgates Mall Road, is the region's largest mall. The center has more than 250 restaurants and specialty shops, and eight anchor stores that include Macy's, Best Buy, JC Penney and Dick's Sporting Goods.

Crossgates Commons is across the street from Crossgates Mall on Washington Avenue Extension. The center includes Home Depot, Panera Bread and a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

The Rosemont Park is off of Rosemont Street. The park has a basketball court, a tennis court, a ball field, a playground and a spray pad in the summer. The Westland Hills Park, at the intersection of Anthony Street and Colvin Avenue, has five ball fields, four tennis courts, a playground area, a dog park, a swimming pool, and a summer spray pad.

Swinburne Park, at the intersection of Manning Boulevard and Clinton Avenue, has a swimming pool, an ice skating rink (open from November through March), a playground and a summer spray pad. Bleecker Stadium, used by high school, college and semi-pro sports teams, is at 721 Clinton Ave.

Mortgages

A four-bedroom, 2,360-square-foot raised ranch with three bathrooms and an attached two-car garage at 149 Fairlawn Ave. is on the market for $245,900, according to an online listing by RealtyUSA.com (http://bit.ly/zD0agJ). The listing agent is Tryntze Conway; her mobile phone is 810-3960. The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) number for this property is 201202579.

Built in 1963, the house has hardwood floors, a Jacuzzi tub, a master suite with a private bath, two sliding glass doors that lead to a deck and patio, a large, private, landscaped yard, a family room with a fireplace, and a fourth bedroom with a full bath and kitchenette.

Taxes

The city of Albany has full-value assessments. Homeowners pay $13.43 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for Albany city and Albany County property taxes. School taxes are $20.49 per $1,000.